04-28-1997 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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Accessory Structures April 23, 1997 Page 3 via the plan review that use of the second kitchen for a separate dwelling unit requires City approval (guest apartment CUP). The problem here is that the only permanent fi.xture in a kitchen may be a kitchen sink, and a lavatory in a bathroom might serve the same function. Typical Accesssory Building Utility Amenities It is not uncommon for accessory buildings to be provided with electricity, not only for lighting but for many other purposes (lawn maintenance, work.shop, etc.). A telephone jack might also be placed in an accessory building for convenience. Less common would be natural gas, except for heating purposes. Water piping might be common in an accessor}' building for someone who is a gardener, with a washtub or sink area. A home workshop in an accessory building might include a toilet and lavatory for convenience. Much ioss common in an accessory building is a shower or bathtub. Such a fixture technically would require a permit from the City, and is perhaps the single 'built-in' feature most likely to make a building suitably functional as a stand-alone dwelling. In our society, where the majority of individuals tend to bathe on a regular basis, the absence of a shower or tub suggests a space that, even if provided with most other amenities, is not intended for anything more than short term use accessory to a building that has such a facility. Without a tub or shower, it is not livable. By the same token, without a toilet, it is not livable. Yet the presence of a shower stall in an unheated garage for seasonal or occasional use by the homeowner to remove the grime from a hard day 'in the coal mines', hardly would constitute a separate dwelling unit in itself. This suggests that perhaps a shower or tub in combination with a toilet is necessar>' to comprise a functional, if not necessarily legal, dwelling unit... It may therefore be reasonable to define whether a structire or space is a (potential) dwelling unit by the presence or absence of a bathtub or shower in combination with a toilet. mm